Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant.

[2] After the act with Willock broke up, Carson teamed with dancer Betty Alice Lindy for appearances in theaters on the Orpheum Circuit.

[5] Radio was another source of employment for the team, starting with a 1938 appearance on the Kraft Music Hall when Bing Crosby hosted the show.

[7] Charles Foster wrote about the show in Once Upon a Time in Paradise: Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood: "It broke audience records regularly during the four years it was on the air.

During the 1930s, as vaudeville declined from increased competition from radio and the movies, Willock and Carson sought work in Hollywood.

Carson initially landed bit roles at RKO Radio Pictures in films such as Bringing Up Baby (1938), starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

An early standout role for Carson was as a mock-drunk, undercover G-Man opposite Richard Cromwell in Universal Pictures's anti-Nazi action drama titled Enemy Agent.

He also did work for Columbia Pictures, starring in a slapstick comedy, The Good Humor Man in 1950, co-starring his future wife, Lola Albright.

Critics generally agree that Carson's best work was in Mildred Pierce (1945), where he played the perpetually scheming Wally Fay opposite Joan Crawford in the title role.

His TV pilot, Kentucky Kid, was under consideration as a potential series for NBC, but was shelved when Carson became ill with stomach cancer.

[14] On February 8, 1960, Carson received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television and radio industry.